Safety and Security

Welcome to Safety and Security

Keeping our students, staff and visitors safe is a top priority for Mukilteo School District. The District and each school has a comprehensive emergency management plan and Emergency Operation Team in place to prevent crises and also to be prepared should one occur. Our efforts are based in the foundation and knowledge of FEMA's ICS100 Incident Command System and the All-Hazard Emergency Planning approach of considering man-made, natural and technological diasters. Mukilteo School District continually reviews districtwide safety needs as well as the implementation of safety measures and training in order to ensure our District is prepared for changing conditions. In addition to being reviewed by the Safety Department, plans and policies are reviewed quarterly by safety committees at both the building and district level.

The District's efforts regarding safety and security fall into three broad categories:

Finding ways to ensure that buildings and grounds are as secure as they can be through the use of best-practice prevention and mitigation solutions.

Practicing emergency response to make sure students and staff members know what to do should an event happen.

Offering services to support the social and emotional needs of students and staff.

As the District enacts these practices, it solicits expert advice regarding the latest best practices regarding safety and security in order to develop solutions that are based on knowledge learned through past experiences.

EMERGENCY INFORMATION

Each school has a plan for responding to emergencies and for providing information to parents. Please remember that communicating can become very difficult during an emergency. The school needs the emergency contact information (address and daytime phone number) of each parent or guardian as well as the phone numbers of two alternate emergency contacts. Be sure that your child's records are kept current and notify your child's school of any contact information changes. Telephone service may be unavailable for outgoing or incoming calls to your child’s school. As a result, the school district will provide local radio and television stations with current information because they may offer the only reliable means of communication to parents and the public during an emergency.

Updates also will be made available as much as possible through regular communication processes outlined in the section on School Closure and Delays found on page 8. Those options include:

Information posted on the school district website.

Text and email notices through the parent notification system.

Messages through the Email News service.

The Emergency Information Line at 425-356-1299.

Flash Alertand other text messaging services offered by local TV and radio stations.

EMERGENCY DRILLS

All schools have regular, age-appropriate drills to practice the response to a variety of emergencies, such as what to do in the event of an earthquake or fire, or in conducting a lockdown when there is a potential threat outside of a school. The school district also is implementing response protocols that would be utilized if there is a violent intruder in a school. If appropriate, students are taught to follow the directions of their teacher or an administrator to find an escape route and simply run away from a threat. Or, if escaping from the threat is not an option, students might hide in a place where the intruder won’t find them.

LOCKDOWNS

A lockdown is used to protect students if there is a situation outside the school building or classroom that might threaten student safety. During a lockdown, students will be kept in their classrooms until the situation has been resolved. For the safety of all involved, you should not go to the school or attempt to remove your child from school while a building is in a lockdown situation.

SHELTER-IN-PLACE

Shelter-in-place is an emergency response tool to protect students in the event of potential exposure to a hazardous contaminant in the atmosphere. If an airborne contaminant poses a threat to students during the school day, students and staff will remain indoors and the heating and ventilation system will be shut off, which creates a neutral atmosphere pressure in the building that forms a protective barrier against the contaminant. During a shelter-in-place incident, people will not be allowed in or out of the school building until the all-clear signal is given.

PARENT/STUDENT REUNIFICATION

If weather or an emergency situation occurs that requires students to be picked up at a different time of day or at a different location than usual, a process will be established so that parents or guardians can take their child home. We ask that parents or guardians please bring photo identification (such as a driver’s license) to ensure student safety. For more information, please use this link to see more details regarding parent-student reunification.

SAFESCHOOLS ALERT

Safety is one of the school district’s top priorities. To help safeguard the school community, a tip reporting service allows students, staff, parents, and members of the community to submit safety concerns by telephone, text, email or the Internet. Called SafeSchools Alert, the system can be used to report tips on bullying, harassment, drugs, vandalism, or any other kind of safety issue. Those calling to report an emergency will be advised to call 9-1-1, instead. A person with a concern can submit a tip in any of four ways:

A School Resource Officer (SRO) is a commissioned police officer who has been assigned to a school. We are grateful to all three of the law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction within our school district area because all three have assigned an SRO to Mukilteo schools. The City of Mukilteo Police Department has assigned a police officer to Kamiak High School, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office has assigned a deputy sheriff to Mariner High School, and the City of Everett Police Department has assigned a police officer to Explorer Middle School.

In the case of the police officer from Mukilteo and the deputy sheriff, the officer is assigned full-time to the school during each of the 180 school days during the year. The school district pays that person’s salary for those 180 days, which ends up being 75 percent of that person’s total annual salary. In the case of the police officer from Everett, that person is assigned to the school at no cost to the school district.

In all three cases, the SRO not only is at their assigned school each school day, but also provides assistance to other schools that are nearby. And, yes. All three SROs carry the firearm that has been assigned to them by their police agency.

VIDEO CAMERAS

For purposes of promoting and maintaining a safe environment, protection of district property, and deterrence and prevention of criminal activity and conduct violations, the Mukilteo School District utilizes more than 500 video cameras on its school grounds and additional cameras in district-provided school buses. Students, parents, staff, volunteers, and visitors may be videotaped while on school grounds or in district-provided school buses. Further information on the use of video cameras can be found in Board Policy 9321.

Stop the Bleedis a national awareness campaign by the Department of Homeland Security that intends to cultivate grassroots efforts to encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. Courses are free and are offered locally at public health departments, hospitals and clinics, emergency medical services, or fire and police departments.

Mukilteo School District complies with federal and state rules and regulations and does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Further, the District recognizes the needs of persons with disabilities, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The District complies with state and federal accessibility regulations to provide access for our students, staff, parents and guests. The following individuals have been designated to handle questions or complaints of alleged discrimination: Title IX Officer - Bruce Hobert (425-356-1319), Section 504 Coordinator - Lisa Pitsch (425-356-1277), and the ADA/Access Coordinator - Karen Mooseker (425-356-1330), all located at 9401 Sharon Drive in Everett, WA 98204. Inquiries regarding ADA/Access issues at Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center should be directed to Maggie Bagwell, Director (425-348-2220) at 9001 Airport Road in Everett, WA 98204.